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Category: Arts

Art, Astrology, and Tarot Draw for November 24th, 2016

24 November 2016Written by Madame Ximon0 Comments

Today’s daily divinatory drawing and astrological commentary are now up on Patreon.

Today’s Tarot draw is (XX) The Aeon, reversed.

The Aeon concerns seasons and cycles, patterns in our lives and the ability to discern them, to live with spirit and apply a larger vision to our lives in order to break free from negative cycles and course-correct for both our own sakes and the sake of humanity as a whole.

But just as the infinite extends outward, so too does it extend inward. Just as the macrocosm is important, so too is the microcosm. And sometimes in the course of looking at the big picture, we can forget to enjoy the things that give life meaning.

The Aeon reversed suggests to me that today is a time to concern ourselves less with the big picture, less with the past and the future, and more with the present moment. Let us savor divinity today not with a god’s eye view, but instead delighting in the little moments and experiences that draw us together, the feelings and connections, the ebb and flow of interactions that make up the whole of our love for each other.

The Aeon’s Hebrew letter is Shin, spirit. Spirit is sometimes represented by a flame, or even just a tiny spark. Something small and easily snuffed out that can also grow to encompass all. Today is a day to nurture that spark, that flame, that our spirit-fire may burn steadily through the winter to come.

Art, Astrology, and Tarot Draw for November 23rd. 2016

23 November 2016Written by Madame Ximon0 Comments

Today’s daily divinatory drawing and astrological commentary are now up on Patreon.

Today’s Tarot draw is 10 of Disks (Wealth), reversed.

Given the positive associations that I have with today’s astrological alignments, having a card that is normally favorable show up reversed seems a bit odd. Given that this card is ruled by Mercury and invokes Mercury in Virgo (the 2nd of the two signs Mercury rules), there is the suggestion in the reversed position that today’s Mercury/Saturn conjunction may have some inhibiting action toward Mercury after all.

Mercury in Virgo thinks and speaks in a Virgoan manner. And what is that? Virgo is known for being fact-finding, detail-oriented to the point of being nit-picky, and therefore has a reputation for being critical. Virgo is concerned with perfection (reinforced here as the number 10), and that concern can become an obsession, which others may find difficult to stomach. The thing about perfectionism is that while paying attention to details can certainly increase the quality of our efforts and the end result, perfectionism often becomes a stumbling block to success – we become so concerned with getting the details of a project just right that we never really get it off the ground. Often we need to be willing to fail in order to have even the possibility of success because that’s how humans learn, and perfectionism nips that willingness to fail right in the bud. For some of us (myself included), early lessons that “failure is not an option” resulted in “learning and growing from our mistakes is not an option” and that is absolutely stifling.

So perhaps in this case, the limitation of Mercury in Virgo provided by today’s Mercury/Saturn conjunction in Sagittarius is a tempering one, that allows us to be comfortable with flaws and messiness on our way to an outcome that might not be perfect in a Virgoan sense, but could still be perfect for us. Given the Sagittarian emphasis in today’s astrological configuration with its tendency to move swiftly and look to the bigger picture rather than obsessing over the little details, we need to get comfortable with thinking about and expressing our thoughts on larger concepts and ideals than just the earthy minutia that are the Mercury in Virgo stock in trade.

Real wealth is so much more than material, and it seems no accident that this card should appear on such a strongly Sagittarian day – after all, Jupiter (ruler of Sagittarius) is the Greater Benefic, the fortunate planet associated with both faith and wealth. The wealth that we really need requires aligning our thoughts and communication with Jovian largesse, learning to expand our possibilities to include the risk of failure and the wealth of learning and growth that comes with it.

Art, Astrology, and Tarot draw for November 22nd, 2016

This is interesting, given yesterday’s 4 of Wands (Completion), reversed draw. The 5 of Wands invokes the archetype of Saturn in Leo, putting it in harmony with the Saturn in Sagittarius placement that we’ve been experiencing since early last fall, a placement that some astrologers have pointed to as corresponding to the rise of Trump.

Saturn governs limitations, restriction, insecurity, fear, and discipline. Where Saturn appears, there is a constriction or inhibition of the natural qualities of the sign, a feeling that we are not quite up to the task at hand in terms of both the sign’s qualities and the requirements of the house that the sign falls in. In the case of the Saturn in Sagittarius placement, Saturn has cast a shadow over the idealism and forthrightness of Sagittarius, and having squared Neptune for most of the past year (since last Thanksgiving), there has been illusion and outright deception at work leading to disillusionment and the realization of a need for greater discipline in achieving our aims and holding to our beliefs. Of course, this has also resulted in sharp divisions being drawn, a strong sense of “us versus them” and the resultant suspicion and hostility continues to bubble over and mar our ability to see the truth of the matter.

The 5 of Wands Saturn in Leo aligns with this situation by element, the fire that can be used to create or destroy, inspire or frighten. Leo is ruled by the Sun and governs the 5th house, the seat of our creative expression, pleasurable pursuits, and ability to share our true selves proudly. When Saturn enters Leo and/or the 5th house, there is a fear of self-expression, an uncertainty of one’s own worthiness, a difficulty in feeling or expressing personal pride.

While certain spiritual circles label Pride as one of the Seven Deadly Sins, healthy pride is necessary in order to help us recognize our own competence and reason to live. The more that the healthy sense of self is trampled upon, the less the individual can positively contribute to society, and the balance between individual pride and group pride is very evident in the 5th house/11th house Leo/Aquarius axis. Stifling healthy self-expression then leads to strife, both internally and on a larger scale.

Reversed, this card suggests that the time of holding in our self-expression out of fear, insecurity, or repression is coming to an end. Saturn has the capacity to impart discipline as we rally our ideals and our self-worth in the face of restriction and suppression, and that discipline actually increases our capacity to rise to the challenge, to face the task at hand and succeed despite or perhaps even because of our fears.

Saturn is the Lord of Karma, and karma isn’t a matter of reward and punishment but rather the balance of energy, the equal and opposite reaction, the laws of physics writ large upon our lives with reverberations far into both past and future. Now is the time for us to become conscious of the conflicts within us that have kept us silent, and having learned Saturns lessons refuse to be immobilized by them, and speak the truth of our best selves.

Today’s Art and Astrology, and a new Tarot draw

21 November 2016Written by Madame Ximon0 Comments

I’ve finally managed to reset my timing on the daily divinatory drawings, thanks to doing two drawings in less than 24 hours, with yesterday’s drawing featuring a somewhat awkward lion, and today’s drawing being somewhat more aesthetically pleasing but no less unkind to the king of the jungle. Now that I’m posting the day’s drawing in the morning, I’m hoping that the astrological commentary I include with the Patreon post will be more timely and useful to people.

I’ve added another divinatory drawing to my RedBubble portfolio. I’m thinking that I will most likely add the versions with astrological notations there as well for prints only, with a slight name variation to indicate the difference. At this point I’ve got a pretty sizable backlog of scans to get through, even posting only those that I think will integrate well with the products being sold there, so please be patient with me. 🙂 If you have a favorite that you’d like to see translated into wearable art or decorative objects, please let me know!

I’m also starting a new feature this morning: A daily Tarot card draw to help focus on what specific lessons we can learn in the context of the day’s astrological aspects as noted in the divinatory drawing post.

Today’s card is 4 of Wands (Completion), reversed. The 4 of Wands invokes the energies of Venus in Aries. Venus rules the 2nd house, the house of material possessions, yes, and as the planetary representative of the divine feminine among the personal planets, we associate her with beauty and wealth, and that can seem frivolous, but she is also the planet of love, and the 2nd house is not simply about material possessions but far more importantly what we value. We do not love that which we do not value, nor count ourselves wealthy if we do not value what we have. In this case, the values that Venus expresses are those of Aries, youngest sign, the sign that has not lost its sense of wonder and wants to be bold, decisive, adventurous, the hero. Venus in Aries indicates new beginnings, but as the name Completion indicates, typically new beginnings can’t be had without completing that which has gone before, and Venusian new beginnings tend to require that one tie up the loose ends from old relationships before embarking on the new. In this case with the card reversed, the desired new beginning may be not quite ready yet, the old loose ends requiring more consideration or more finesse before they can be firmly tied and left in the past.

Given the Sun’s entry today into Sagittarius, another fire sign like Aries, I can see where there may be a temptation to rush in where angels fear to tread in hot pursuit of our ideals or our passions. But the recent Neptune station and today’s Moon opposition Neptune suggest to me that this is a time to get very clear on what it is that we really feel, what we’re really hoping for, and where past disappointment and disillusionment is still in need of healing. Virgo Moon after all is the “Medicine Chest Moon” that heightens our awareness of all those little aches and pains, whether emotional or physical or both, and what we need to do to remedy them. A little patience is called for here, so that we do not rush the healing process.

New Art on Patreon plus Art on RedBubble

20 November 2016Written by Madame Ximon0 Comments

I’ve been busy lately getting more art created and posted on Patreon lately, though I haven’t been so great about listing that here. :/

I’ve also started adding divinatory drawings on RedBubble, which is a site where I can post my art and they kindly make it into art prints and physical objects for you to purchase. I currently don’t have art up there with the date and astrological notations, though I think I may make those versions available there as well – just have to figure out how I wish to make the distinction between the two. I will only be listing drawings there that I think will translate well into physical objects. The very Capricornian April 10th, 2015 image is the first of the divinatory drawings that I’ve made available there.